That's true despite the two prosecutors in the upcoming trial, Wyshak and Kelly, who have been relentless in their drive to bring Bulger to justice against all odds. They have fought the dead-enders inside the Department of Justice and the FBI. They would almost certainly have gone farther than Durham ever did if they had been given a free hand.

But by choosing to try Bulger on the 19 murder charges instead of a more sweeping racketeering indictment, the government has chosen to make this trial a narrower affair. We won't likely see the wider conspiratorial net that involves more FBI agents than Connolly alone, the useful "lone gun" on whom Durham put the blame. And we shouldn't expect new revelations unless they come from the defense.

Wolf's determination in the '90s was not without consequence. To this day, prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office display resentment and hostility, speaking disparagingly of Wolf outside the range of his hearing. Wolf can be long-winded, self-inflated, and arrogant even in the eyes of his admirers. But at the critical time, he had opened the windows to let the truth in, when the Justice Department wouldn't. And after Bulger's arrest in June, the US Attorney's Office made an end run around Wolf, who seemed likely to oversee the coming trial, to have the case heard by another judge (see "Whitey Bulger and the Feds: the Final Act"). Among the collateral damage was the loss of the defense attorney Wolf was set to appoint for Bulger: Max Stern, a brilliant and tenacious lawyer with a longstanding reputation for digging deeply into government misconduct.

What has happened since Bulger's sudden arrest is truly a shame, because this story is about something much more vital and enduring than the man himself. After all, Bulger is just an accused murderer, like many before and many sure to come. The "Bulger saga" is, more important, about our institutions, and whether we can, and should, trust them.

Of the Bulger case, retired State Superior Court Judge Robert Barton once observed to me: "This is the worst of the worst. And it's going to be a stain on the FBI for a generation." Without an accounting to restore our faith in both the FBI and the Justice Department, Barton's words may turn out to be understatement.

David Boeri is senior reporter for WBUR 90.9 FM, Boston's NPR news station. He can reached at dboeri@wbur.bu.edu.

Whitey Bulger and the Feds: The final act As the notorious and corrupt pas-de-deux between James "Whitey" Bulger and the Department of Justice approaches its finale with Bulger's capture and eventual trial, we are left to reassess the ultimate implications of this long and fateful dance.

Brass balls and cold steel John “Red” Shea’s close-cut hair — the hair that gave him that standard-issue Irish nickname — isn’t quite as fiery as it was when he was a young fighter coming up hard from G Street in South Boston.

Enter the matrix A number of artists have been making art inspired by video games and computer graphics in recent years.

Ticket to ride In April 1999, two weeks after I started on the job at the Providence Phoenix , the FBI raided City Hall, formally unveiling the federal investigation that would land Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr., Rhode Island's rascal king, behind bars.

Crime stats Over the past two weeks, Portlanders have felt less safe in the Forest City. Especially in the downtown area between the East and West Ends, there have been reports of assaults and robberies, some of them armed — and that's not counting the incidents that went officially unreported but were discussed at length on Facebook and within social circles.

I remember when... It's been a while, and I've been here for all of it. These moments are what I remember best, and what I wish there was more evidence of.

HOLLOW JUSTICE | October 05, 2011 When Whitey Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, California, this summer, it may have seemed that a new day had dawned for the local FBI and for the Justice Department.